Whats the Difference Between Taiwanese Mandarin and Chinese Mandarin?

Luckily for you, the style of mandarin spoken in Taiwan could be considered broadcaster style, with no particular differences between that of major cities in China. That being said, Beijing has a particularly strong accent, and use a lot more of the er hua yin sound that gives it its distinct sound. Examples include things like and whereas in Taiwan, we drop the noise completely. Also, some of the pinyin initials in Taiwan are less distinct than that in the Mainland, so sounds like zhe sound more like tsuh, and the number 44 can sometimes sound like si si si rather than si shi si. We also use traditional characters whereas in China they use Simplified, and in China, most people use Pinyin to type into computers, whereas people in Taiwan use bopomofo Zhuyin to input characters on phones and computers. I myself use pinyin because I speak english so I find it quicker to type. If you learn traditional characters instead, you should find learning simplified rather easy, and although they may look difficult at first compared to their simplified cousins, you might actually find that they are easier to remember because they contain clues to their original meanings, while simplified characters are often so simplified that they take away the original etymology of the character. Another thing that people don't realise it the 80% of characters are actually phonetic so you can guess the sound, and even meaning sometimes, of characters that you might not know. If you want to learn more about this check out this article on Hacking Chinese.

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While I was travelling in Guangzhou I kept using the word to get peoples attention in shops, and they kept giving me the cold shoulder. In Taiwan and most of China this is a common way of getting someone's attention, but I was later told that it is the equivalent of a prostitute. No wonder they kept giving me evils. My advice is to use the words you learn, and if it doesn't come off well, ask a local of that town what they say, for instance (unknown word) How do you say this in Chinese?